Former Yomiuri Giants manager Motoshi Fujita, who led the Central League club to two Japan Series titles, died of heart failure Thursday evening at a Tokyo hospital. He was 74.
Fujita, a pitching ace who joined Yomiuri in 1957, posted 17 wins in his first year, ultimately being named Rookie of the Year. He went on to win two consecutive Most Valuable Player awards from 1958-1959, posting a league-high 27 wins in 1959.
Fujita played eight years before his retirement and compiled a 119-88 record.
He had two stints as manager of the Giants in 1981-83 and 1989-92, winning four league championships over seven seasons.
Fujita steered the Giants to Japan Series titles in 1981 and 1989 and was inducted into the Japanese baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.
Baseball's still out
TURIN, Italy (Kyodo) The International Olympic Committee on Thursday rejected bids to reinstate baseball and softball in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.
IOC members decided against putting to a vote the issue of readmitting the two sports, which were dropped from the competition program for the 2012 Games at an IOC general assembly meeting held in Singapore in July last year.
The IOC took up the issue as an emergency agenda item after receiving a petition from 45 members but voted 46-42 against baseball and 47-43 against softball in the balloting to whether to put the proposal to the next round of voting.